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It’s Oscar weekend, and Prime Video is now streaming some of this year’s nominees, like Sinners with Michael B. Jordan.
The streamer also has past Oscar-nominated films, like Parenthood, Ron Howard’s irresistible 1989 comedy starring Steve Martin, Rick Moranis and Keanu Reeves.
The first Resident Evil flick certainly wasn’t an Oscar contender, but its entertaining mix of horror and action makes it worth streaming over two decades after its release.
And if the Academy ever gave out awards for campy fun, the zany satire Josie and the Pussycats would surely grab a few statuettes.
‘Resident Evil’ (2002)
Usually, video game movie adaptations stink, especially when they change almost everything about the source material that made them worth adapting in the first place. But 2002’s Resident Evil is an oddity — it’s an adaptation that throws out most of the first game’s plot, characters and tone, and yet somehow is still fun to watch. Thank model-turned-actress Milla Jovovich for that; as the new character Alice, she’s stupid fun as the reluctant action heroine who wears a slinky red dress while shooting zombies and landing roundhouse kicks to rabid dogs in mid-air. That happens to me, too.
Alice is stuck in a large mansion in Raccoon City with no memory of her past. Things go from bad to worse as a commando unit working for the Umbrella Corporation breaks into the mansion and warns her of a virus outbreak that has turned almost everyone into zombies. Alice has no choice but to align herself with her gun-toting friends, but can she trust people who work for Umbrella, which appears to be behind the virus that caused the mess they’re in in the first place?
Resident Evil is streaming on Prime Video.
‘Parenthood’ (1989)
Growing up is hard, but being a grown-up is even harder. That’s what Gil Buckman (Steve Martin) finds out throughout Parenthood, Ron Howard’s winning 1989 comedy that still feels fresh and funny in 2026. Gil and his siblings, Helen (Dianne Wiest) and Susan (Harley Jane Kozack), navigate the highs and lows of raising children while also somehow trying to find enough time and energy to devote to their love lives. When black sheep brother Larry (Tom Hulce) returns with a child of his own in tow, the Buckman family’s strong bonds are tested.
Later adapted into a successful NBC drama series starring Craig T. Nelson, Parenthood is as funny as it is moving. The movie’s large ensemble is terrific, with great performances from an Oscar-nominated Wiest as a divorced mom at the end of her rope and a young Joaquin Phoenix (then called Leaf) as her withdrawn son. Martin’s wild-and-crazy-guy comic energy works well for Gil, who has to always stay on top of things or else he thinks everything — and everyone — will fall apart. The movie tells some hard truths about what it costs to be a good parent, but it sugarcoats that with some nice comedic bits (look for the scene when Martin has to pretend to be a cowboy to please his son) and an irresistible Randy Newman soundtrack.
Parenthood is streaming on Prime Video.
‘Josie and the Pussycats’ (2001)
When massively successful boy band DuJour is seemingly killed in a plane crash, oily music producer Wyatt Frame (Alan Cumming) needs a new cash cow to milk. He finds it in Riverdale with Josie and the Pussycats, an all-female rock band led by singer Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook) and featuring badass bassist Valerie (Rosario Dawson) and dim-blonde drummer Melody (Tara Reid).
The band becomes hugely popular, but their lives are soon in danger when they uncover a vast conspiracy led by record label owner Fiona (Parker Posey). Can Josie and her pussy posse expose Fiona, save the world’s teenagers from corrupt corporations and still find love and pop music success?
A big dud in its initial release, Josie and the Pussycats has since become a cult film favorite. It’s not hard to see why: its bizarre plot, non-sequitur dialogue and over-the-top performances make it fun to watch and re-watch. Like any good bad movie, it’s the villains that make it all worthwhile, and Cumming and Posey are a match made in camp baddie heaven.
Josie and the Pussycats is streaming on Prime Video.
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